Estimation of Optimum Capacity for Rainwater Storage Facilities based on Mass Balance and Economic Analysis

Recently, rainwater harvesting facilities have increasingly constructed mainly in elementary schools and government buildings. Nevertheless, few methods are available for efficient planning and design of rainwater harvesting facilities by considering the weather conditions and purpose of rainwater management in each site, which may lead to a construction of uneconomic facilities. The current method estimates the size of rainwater storage tank by multiplying the size of building or plottage with a certain ratio and has many limitations. In this study, we first developed a method for planning and design of rainwater storage facilities using $Rainstock^{TM}$ model, which is based on mass balance, and economic analysis. Then, the model was applied for the design of a rainwater harvesting facility in a building with the catchment area of $1,000m^2$. The model calculation indicated that the economic feasibility of rainwater harvesting depends on not only the size of storage tank but also the water usage rate. When the water usage rate is $1m^3/day$, the rainwater harvesting facility is not cost-effective regardless of the size of the storage tank. With increasing the water usage rate, the economical efficiency of the facility was improved for a specific size of the storage tank. Based on the model calculation, the optimum tank sizes for $5m^3/day$ and $10m^3/day$ of water usage rates were $24m^3$ and $57m^3$, respectively. It is expected that the model is useful for optimization of rainwater storage facilities in planning and designing steps.

Mass-balance 및 경제성 분석에 의한 빗물저류시설 적정 규모 산정